The Legacy Of The Sixth Hokage
by coriamber2014
Summary: Is set after the Fourth Shinobi War and Kakashi is Hokage, but Kakashi still has his Sharingan because he just isn't cool without it. A bunch of Sora-like jinchurikis attack Konoha, led by a mysterious figure. Sequel to Kakashi's Will but you can still understand this story without reading it. BTW Jiraiya and Asuma aren't dead. Please review and hope you enjoy. I don't own Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone, immersed in his thoughts. Two years after the Fourth Shinobi War, the village was starting to recover from the losses it suffered. The village was doing well, even with him as Hokage. Kakashi sighed, speaking of being Hokage, he was now in charge of the village. That meant that when something bad happened, _he_ was the one they would go to, even though he was far from being the wisest person in the village. He was getting tired of being Hokage already, especially when his angry assistant was looking for him.

"Hokage-sama!" He had tried getting people to call him Kakashi like they used to, but they had said it was "improper."

"Ahh, Akemi, do you need something?" Akemi Yatsumi, his assistant, was hired to make sure he got something done. He never understood how the other Hokages did it without going crazy, sitting behind a desk all day, doing stacks and stacks of paperwork.

"The team you sent to investigate the place where the bijuus were released are back, and they have bad news." As soon as the words bijuu and bad left her mouth, Kakashi had already vanished, leaving Akemi fuming at the memorial stone.

Kakashi reappeared in his seat in the Hokage's office, startling Naruto, who was in the middle of ranting about how late he was. Three days ago, Kakashi had heard some troubling rumors, about how one person saw some people with a "evil and malicious" chakra, like a bijuus. He had sent Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to investigate in the Valley of the End, the place where all of the bijuus had last been seen. Apparently, they had returned with bad news.

"Report!"

Naruto's and Sakura's expression said _'What, we don't even get an excuse this time?'_ while Sasuke, mission focused as always, began to report.

"We reached the Valley of the End at night, and decided to wait until morning to investigate. As you know, after...I released the bijuus, some chakra remained. It should have disapparated after a week or so, but based on what my Rinnegan and Naruto's Sage Mode tells us, it disappeared after two days."

Kakashi's only exposed eye narrowed. "I hope it's just you guys making a mistake, because if it is true, the most likely scenario is that someone took the chakra. Remember Sora? What if they're trying to create jinchurikis...but all nine of them?" Naruto and Sakura looked at each other gravely while Sasuke just looked confused. Eh, no matter, Naruto and Sakura would explain everything to him later. They were there when Sora had almost turned into a mini nine-tails, and it was not pretty. Now to imagine nine mini bijuus? However, based on their luck, it probably wasn't a mistake. The question was, who did it? And what was their target?

"Akemi!" Akemi, who had just got here, hurriedly stood to attention. "Alert all ninjas that there may be nine jinchurikis on the loose. Send messages to the other hidden villages, tell them the situation. Also summon Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, Ino Yamanaka, and Sai to try to follow the chakra." Akemi nodded and ran off to do what he had asked.

Kakashi turned back to his students before him. "We must be prepared, whether we're ready or not. Be on guard." They nodded seriously, and Kakashi couldn't help but smile, though no one could see it because of his mask. The three insolent children have all grown up into strong shinobi, ready to die for the village, though he would not let that happen as long as he was still alive.

(line)

The tracking team had returned without success, though Kakashi didn't expect them to. After all, the chakra trail was two _years_ old. The tracking team followed it for as long as they could before the trail ended, Kakashi was standing in front of the memorial stone once more, looking at all the names on it. He knew a lot of people who had their names carved onto the stone, but three names were the most important to him.

His eye fell on the name _Minato Namikaze_.

"I'm glad you met Naruto, Minato-sensei. He's really grown up. You know, Naruto's actually in line to be the next Hokage, after me. Can you believe it? I bet you and Kushina-san are so proud."

Next he looked at the name _Rin Nohara_.

"Rin. I still can't tell you how sorry I am, for abandoning you, and killing you. I know you would probably be saying that I should just get over it, but I can't. You may have forgiven me, but I will never forgive myself. I hope you and Obito are having a great time though, in the afterlife…"

Lastly his eyes rested on the name of his best friend, _Obito Uchiha_.

"Obito...when I saw that you were Tobi, I thought that the person you were in the past was dead. But in the end, you were still the same Obito I knew, the Obito that was my friend, the Obito that was a hero. You saved my life, again, thank you. I'll never forget you."

Kakashi sighed, he could still feel the years of regret weighing on him. His thoughts turned to team seven, how similar they were to his team. Naruto and Obito's recklessness and determination, Sakura and Rin's caring and kindness, and Sasuke and his arrogance and brilliance. How happy they were right now after Sasuke returned and peace descended the lands, how they were settling down and having families of their own, how close Naruto was to becoming a father.

"I will not let the same thing that happened to our team happen to them, not if I have anything to do about it. I've failed at so many things in my life, but I will not fail at this. I swear, even if it means dying a horrible and painful death a hundred times over."

(line)

Kakashi was walking through the busy streets of Konoha, taking a break from his paperwork that seemed to never end. The citizens all bowed to him as he passed, while others hurried up to him with worried faces, seeking reassurance.

"Hokage-sama, is the village going to be alright?"

"Do you know when the jinchurikis are going to attack, Hokage-sama?"

"Last time Sora almost destroyed the village, what are we going to do against nine of them Hokage-sama?"

"My wife just had a baby, I don't want them to get hurt if the jinchurikis attack the village. Please do something, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi calmed them as best as he could. "We don't know about their movements, but we have put up extra guards around the village. Also, the village has grown stronger, and I'm sure the village will be strong enough to defeat them." As they turned to leave, Kakashi saw more people coming his way. He quickly Body Flickered onto the roof of a nearby house, ignoring the shouts of the civilians below. Kakashi suddenly sensed a spike of familiar chakra. _'Naruto's.'_ He extended his senses and sensed Sakura's and Sasuke's more subtle chakra. Kakashi started running towards their direction, wondering what was going on.

When he arrived, he saw Naruto and Sakura looking livid and glaring at a group of civilians, as if they were barely restraining themselves from running forward and beating them up.

"It's fine, just ignore them." Sasuke was saying to Naruto as he prevented him from charging at the civilians.

"You traitor! You left us for Orochimaru and now you're coming crawling back to us? We should have killed you right there!" One of the civilians shouted at him.

"You're still saying this to him? Even after all this time, after he helped defeat Madara?" Sakura said back.

"The village could have still defeated him without the traitor. According to me, the Godaime should have thrown you out immediately. After she stepped down, I thought the new Hokage would be smart enough to kill you, but no, he let you stay, which was a fool's decision." Another one of them said arrogantly. However, they all took a step back and gulped nervously as Naruto and Sakura let out so much killing intent it was almost tangible.

"Don't you _dare_ insult Tsunade-baachan and Kakashi-sensei!"

"Say that again about shishou and Kakashi-sensei, and you'll pay."

Sensing danger, Kakashi quickly stepped between them and the civilians. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked surprised while the civilians looked relieved.

"Hokage-sama, I'm so glad you're here. They were so out of control, they could have killed us. They don't deserve to be a ninja of the Leaf, especially the Uchiha." Kakashi felt a surge of anger, they expected him to defend them?

"I think you're mistaken." Kakashi said in a deathly calm voice as he pushed his headband up to reveal the sharingan. The civilians froze in fear. "You have just insulted the Godaime, me, and my students. You think you can get off that easily?" He placed a minor genjutsu on them that made them see their deepest fears. After the genjutsu wore off, all of the civilians were on the ground, whimpering with fear. "Insult my students again and it'll be worse. Now leave." They nodded and hurriedly left.

"Why do you get to harm them but we don't?" Naruto complained.

"You're not the Hokage. Besides, I didn't harm them, physically." Kakashi said, then turned to face them seriously. "What was that about?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, Sakura scowled, and Sasuke looked away, not meeting his eyes. After a long silence, Sasuke said, "Naruto and Sakura decided that what the civilians said weren't true, even though they were, and got angry at them."

Sakura looked over at Sasuke worriedly. "You know that isn't true, Sasuke. You came back with your own free will."

"After I tried to kill you and Naruto."

"Sasuke…"

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. Just ignore their insults. However, if they decide to take action against Sasuke…" Kakashi chuckled evilly. "Well, I can't blame you for self-defense, can I?"

They nodded, and Kakashi saw Naruto anger cool off a bit. However, he looked more conflicted than normal. "Is something wrong, Naruto?"

"Kakashi-sensei, why do we fight for the village? I know it may sound like treason to say this, but Konoha isn't all good and kind. They made Itachi kill his whole family…" Kakashi didn't miss Sasuke's flinch when Itachi was mentioned. He understood though, some wounds never healed. "They viewed me as a monster because of the Nine-Tails, and now they view Sasuke as a traitor. Why? Why do we risk our lives for the village?" The question was one that Kakashi had been pondering for a long time, especially when he was in ANBU, doing deeds that would send him to the deepest darkest pits of hell. It was in front of the memorial stone, right after when Kakashi had to kill an innocent child, who unfortunately had important parents that needed to be taken down a notch or two, when the answer came to him.

 _Kakashi knelt in front of the memorial stone. He could still see the blood, covering his hands, and no amount of water could wash it off. Kakashi desperately blocked out the memory of the terror on the child's face when he had suddenly appeared in front of him. Kakashi had tried to make the death quick and painless for the child, but that didn't lift the guilt of taking his life in the first place._

" _Obito, Rin, Sensei. I killed a child today, I killed him, because it was my mission. You probably all feel disgusted by me, it's okay, I deserve it. You guys wouldn't have done it, not like me. Obito, you would have just torn the mission scroll in half and thrown it at Danzo's face, wouldn't you?"_

 _Kakashi took a deep breath, he could still smell the scent of blood, clinging to his uniform. "Sometimes I just feel like abandoning the village, becoming a missing-nin. Even that life would be better than murdering innocent people left and right. Why do I serve the village anyway, Sensei? They expect me to just let go of my emotion and be their tool, wielding me as they see right. Why should I let them? Please, tell me, Obito, Rin, Sensei, I don't know the answer anymore."_

 _Kakashi stayed still for a long time, knowing that if anyone heard what he had just said, he would be in big trouble, but he didn't care anymore. He felt like just giving up and leaving the village, or just go in front of the council and say what he felt like saying, that they were a bunch of corrupted power hungry fools. Kakashi felt despair creep into him, and was about to give into it when he felt a hand gently ruffle his hair._

 _Kakashi looked behind him, but saw no one there. He was about to wonder if he was hallucinating when he felt the familiar presence. 'Sensei…'_

" _What, are you going to just give up?" Someone put their hand on his shoulder. 'Obito…'_

" _It'll be okay, Kakashi." Even though Kakashi couldn't see it, he could feel her hand holding his. 'Rin…'_

" _What do you think you're fighting for?" It was then, when Kakashi saw them, transparent and ghost-like in front of him. 'If I'm hallucinating,' Kakashi thought to himself, 'I don't want to stop.'_

" _I don't know, Sensei."_

 _Minato smiled. Obito scoffed and said, "Why do you wallow in front of the memorial stone everyday, genius?"_

" _Because I miss you guys, everyday. And also I'm reminding myself to never make those same mistakes again, so more of my friends don't die…" Suddenly the answer hit Kakashi, it was so simple, he wondered why he didn't think of it sooner._

 _Rin smiled her sweet smile. "See, Kakashi? It wasn't that hard. I guess our job here is done then." Slowly they started to fade._

" _Obito, Rin, Sensei, don't go, please don't."_

" _Our time is up, Kakashi. I wish we could have stayed forever, but then you would have never learned how to move past the pain, and I'm sure you will, Kakashi, on your own. I have faith in you." Minato looked at him warmly, his blue eyes sparkling with pride._

" _But-"_

" _Stupid Kakashi, are you going to keep crying there like a crybaby? I thought you said that I was one. See, it takes one to know one." Obito teased, he gave Kakashi a thumbs-up. "This isn't good-bye, we've always been with you, Kakashi, and we always will be, in your heart." Then they faded into nothingness, and all that was left was the feeling of their warm and familiar chakra lingering in the air. Kakashi knelt motionless for a few seconds, taking in their chakra, and it filled him with strength and courage, then stood up and turned to leave for his next mission._

' _Thank you, Obito, Rin, Sensei. I know what I'm fighting for now.'_

Kakashi smiled at the memory and looked at his students. Sakura's green eyes that were filled with caring and strength, Sasuke's dark eyes that were filled with calmness and sadness, and Naruto's blue eyes, so much like his father's, that were filled with determination, empathy, and most of all, love.

"We fight for our comrades, our friends, our precious people.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

 _(Somewhere in the Land of Fire)_

He sneered at the ninja trembling in fear in front of him. The headband that the ninja wore showed that he was a leaf shinobi. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see where the corpses of the leaf ninja's comrades lay.

"Sir, should we kill him?" One of his subordinates said to him. He shook his head and smiled evilly as he looked down at the leaf ninja, "No, I want him to deliver a message to the Hokage."

The leaf ninja paled when he mentioned the Hokage, and tried to sound brave as he said, "W-what do you want with the H-hokage?"

He smirked as he told the leaf ninja his message. "Tell him that after two years of building our strength, we have grown strong. Tell him, that we are coming to destroy Konoha and to kill everyone in it. Now run, or I may regret my decision to let you live."

The leaf jonin hurriedly got up and staggered in the direction of Konoha. After the jonin disappeared, he turned to his nine subordinates.

"We invade Konoha as soon as the jonin gives the message. Get ready." He smiled as the morning sunshine reflected off his glasses. By tomorrow, Konoha will exist no more. He took off after the jonin, taking care to mask his chakra so he would not be noticed.

* * *

It was one of those sunny afternoons in Konoha, when you don't feel like doing anything. Kakashi was in his office, trying to finish his paperwork but failing to concentrate. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were training in Training Ground 7. Gai and Lee were doing another one of their crazy challenges. Jiraiya and Tsunade were drinking in a tavern, talking about random stuff. Asuma and Kurenai were playing with their daughter. Team 10, team 8, and Neji and Tenten were at Ichiraku Ramen, Choji and Kiba were having an eating contest. Everything was peaceful.

The peace was shattered when a leaf jonin raced inside the gates, ignoring the questions of the two chunins guarding the gates.

"Hokage-sama! I need to speak with the Hokage!"

"Calm down. You were in one of the border patrol groups, right? Where's the rest of your team?" One of the chunins said, trying to stop the frantic jonin from running around.

"Where's the Hokage? Where is he?"

"I'm right here. Ryo, was it?"

"Hokage-sama!" Ryo quickly turned towards Kakashi, who was casually leaning against the gate. He quickly kneeled in front of Kakashi, "permission to report."

"Permission granted. Stand up, you don't have to kneel."

"Yes sir." Ryo quickly stood up and faced Kakashi, expression grim. "My team was patrolling the east border when a group of ten people attacked us. I...I was the only survivor." Kakashi bowed his head in respect to Ryo's team, everyone who died in service to their village was to be respected. After a few moments of silence, Ryo continued.

"But, the leader of the group left me alive to take a message to you. He said, 'Tell him that after two years of building of strength, we have grown strong. Tell him, that we are coming to destroy Konoha and to kill everyone in it.' Also, I'm a sensor-nin, and I sensed that all but the leader had bijuu level chakra. They are most likely the jinchurikis."

"What? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

This was bad. The group was most likely responsible for the missing bijuu chakra in the Valley of the End, and apparently their goal was to destroy Konoha by unleashing the bijuus. Right now, all he could do was tighten the village's security so they couldn't enter Konoha.

"Hokage-sama, ten intruders are nearing Konoha. About two miles from here." One of the Hyuga guards Kakashi had assigned to guard the gates after hearing about the missing chakra said.

"Ryo, you're dismissed." Kakashi quickly teleported to the top of the Hokage Tower. He turned to one of his ANBU guards. "Initiate level 1 security immediately. The ANBU nodded and disappeared. Kakashi activated a jutsu that would allow his voice to be heard all over the village.

"The Leaf Village is under attack. Genins and chunins will escort all the civilians, children, and the elderly to the safe houses and _stay there_. Genins and chunins will not participate in the battle. Two ANBU will guard each safe house. One of the safe houses will be a medic tent, all medics will go there. Jonins and ANBU will assemble on top of the Hokage Tower." Kakashi could hear panicked shouts coming from the civilians before, but the genins and chunins quickly comforted them.

Kakashi waited until all of the jonins were in front of him, the ANBU were standing in a circle around them, standing guard. There was team 7, all of team 8 except for Hinata, who was pregnant, team 10, team Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Jiraiya, Aoba, Genma, Raido, Sai, and some other jonins. He cleared his throat and braced himself before saying, "we might be facing a mini version of each bijuu."

Immediately, the jonins started to speak.

"What?"

"All nine of the bijuus?"

"Konoha was almost destroyed by Sora, how can we defend against eight more of them?"

"What are we going to do, Hokage-sama?"

"Hokage-sama?"

"We're all going to die!"

Kakashi was getting a horrible headache from all the shouting and questions, and it didn't help that the nine jinchurikis were coming closer every second. Finally, Naruto couldn't take it anymore and shouted, "Shut up, all of you!"

Surprisingly, everyone did. Kakashi glanced gratefully at his ex-student before speaking again. "However, they won't be able cross the boundary. Only leaf ninjas know how. Still, be on your guard. I want a squad on each side of the village, the rest of you, stay with me."

Four squads left, and the rest of the jonins started murmuring among themselves. Kakashi walked over to the railing, looking towards the village gates. Gai walked up beside him.

"Gai?"

"My Eternal Rival, we must not give up hope. We defeated Kaguya together, nine mini bijuus will not stop us!"

"But your leg..."

"Oh this?" Gai raised his injured leg. "This will not stop me, I can still fight better than most of the jonins here."

"Still-"

"How can we be Eternal Rivals if we do not fight together? Don't worry, this will not diminish my YOUTHFUL spirit at all!"

Kakashi sighed, he knew that arguing with Gai was pointless, though that didn't stop him from worrying about Gai's safety. Gai patted him on the shoulder, then limped towards Lee on his crutch.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm?" He turned to see his team standing behind him. "Sakura? Aren't you supposed to be with the medics?"

"Tsunade-shishou can handle it. Besides, nothing can defeat team 7 together!" Sakura said confidently.

"That's so right, Sakura-chan. I'll save Konoha again, like the last two times." Naruto said.

Sakura growled angrily and hit Naruto on the head. "You idiot, other people helped too! Stop hogging all the glory!" Sasuke sighed as Naruto rubbed his head painfully.

Naruto was about to say something when a figure ran onto the middle of the Konoha.

"Hey! What are you doing? The Hokage said all ninja except jonins and ANBU to go to the safe houses!" The figure didn't appear to hear Naruto and pulled out a kunai. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and looked closer. _"Wait, he's not wearing…"_

"He's not wearing a leaf headband! He's an enemy!" However, it was too late, and the mysterious figure cut himself and slammed his hand on the ground. He shouted, "Summoning Jutsu!"

After the smoke cleared, nine people stood there, they all wore the sound village headband protector. And Kakashi had a bad feeling as all nine of them started releasing huge amounts of chakra.

"How did they get in?" Sasuke said, sharingan activated. Kakashi had no idea, but they had no focus on making sure the invaders didn't destroy Konoha first. He lifted his headband and confirmed his suspicions, especially when orange chakra started to envelope the nine of them.

"They're jinchurikis! Stop them before they fully change!" The jonins surged forward, but a strong wind blew them backwards, and they were forced to focus chakra to their feet to avoid being blown away. Kakashi watched in horror as the mini versions of the Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi, Nanabi, Hachibi, and Kyubi appeared. Waves of malicious chakra washed over them, and Kakashi felt a chill go down his spine as memories from that horrible night when the Kyubi was unleashed came back to him. _'Calm down, they aren't the actual demons,'_ Kakashi thought to himself.

The figure who had summoned the jinchurikis had disappeared, but Kakashi had bigger problems to worry about. Namely, how to stop the jinchurikis from destroying Konoha.

"Jiraiya-sama! Do you have any chakra-suppressing seals?"

The Toad Sage held up nine pieces of paper. "I only have nine of them, one for each bijuu. Be careful with them, if one is destroyed...I don't know what we'll be able to do." Before Kakashi could make further commands, another puff of smoke appeared near the safe houses. 100 seemingly dead bodies appeared, however, they were moving. _'The Dead Soul Jutsu.'_ Kakashi thought, seeing it before. His heart nearly stopped when he realized what their target was, the safe houses.

' _Based on what I know, the dead bodies won't feel any pain and will keep moving unless they are cut into tiny pieces or the caster is killed. The nine jinchurikis need to be managed too…'_ Kakashi looked towards Shikamaru, who had his hand in the box shape, showing that he was thinking. Kakashi knew that Shikamaru had the best strategical mind in Konoha, so he waited for his plan, even though the army of dead bodies were moving closer and closer to the safe houses.

Finally, Shikamaru opened his eyes and said, "Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura can take on the Kyubi; the Naras, Yamanakas, and Akimichis can take on the Hachibi; the Aburames can take on the Nanabi; Jiraiya and Asuma can take on the Gobi; Gai, Lee, and Tenten can take on the Yonbi; the Hyugas can take on the Sanbi; the Inuzukas can take on the Nibi; and Hokage-sama and Yamato can take on the Ichibi. The rest of the jonin can fight the Dead Soul Jutsu army. Also, Kiba and Kurenai should hunt the person who summoned them here down."

"You heard Shikamaru, get moving." Kakashi said. The Nibi and the Nanabi was heading towards the safe houses too, while the Ichibi and the Sanbi were heading towards them. Jiraiya quickly handed one of supression tags to each of the groups, and the jonins all scattered except for Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

"Sensei, promise that you won't die?" Kakashi could see that the memories of what happened against the battle of Pain a few years ago was still fresh in their mind. They had thought he died, and based on what he had heard, they had been devastated. Kakashi wanted to reassure them and say yes, but he couldn't promise that he wouldn't die, no one could control fate. He was spared the choice when the Ichibi started to inhale to spit out Wind Bullets, and of course the Ichibi was facing towards the safe houses.

Kakashi quickly said "Fire Style, Great Fireball Jutsu" and launched a fireball at the Ichibi while Yamato used his wood to attempt to create some sort of...muzzle on the Ichibi. The Ichibi was forced to stop and defend himself. Kakashi quickly started to form another fire style attack. _'This is not going to be easy.'_

* * *

So far his plan was going perfectly. After Konoha was exhausted from fighting the jinchurikis and his Dead Soul army, he would strike. However, the mini bijuus wouldn't be able to fully weaken the Konoha shinobi with Jiraiya and the Wood Style user helping, and the Dead Soul army would eventually be destroyed or trapped. He had another plan, one that would certainly be entertaining to watch. The next part of the plan would take advantage of the main weakness of Konoha. After all, the current Hokage preached the importance of teamwork and to never abandon a comrade.

It would be interesting to see whether or not he would uphold his principle.

First, he had to create a distraction to buy enough time for the plan. And he knew just what the distraction should be.

* * *

Kakashi winced as his left arm throbbed from the chakra burn he received when he slapped the seal on the mini Ichibi's forehead. Unfortunately, all of the jinchuriki were already too far gone to be saved. He looked around, and saw that all of the bijuus had already been taken care of. Almost all of the jonins were injured, though by the looks of it Choji and Asuma were both severely, and two Hyugas, an Inuzuka, and a Yamanaka had died.

"Tenten, Shino, take any who can't fight anymore to the medics." Neji and Ino nodded and went to do what he had asked. Kakashi turned to the Hyugas, Inuzukas, and Yamanakas who were mourning the loss of one/two of their familiy members. "Konoha is forever indebted to the deaths of these four excellent shinobi, however, now is not the time to mourn. Mourn later, concentrate of fighting now." Kakashi then looked towards the safe houses, it looked like the rest of the jonin weren't having much luck with the Dead Soul Jutsu army though. He hoped Kiba and Kurenai found the caster soon.

He was about to go help the rest of the jonins when an explosion sounded. He turned to see where the explosion sounded, and his heart froze.

"The safe houses!" One of the jonins shouted. One after another, the safe houses started to explode. After the debris settled down, there was no movement. For a moment, Kakashi believed that no one in the safe houses survived.

Then Kakashi saw a section of a wall collapse, and a few people came out. A fist smashed through the wreckage of a safe house, and Tsunade appeared, helping a few medics climb out. Slowly, more and more people started appear. Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that most of the safe houses was able to activate the emergency protection seals in time (The seals were a one time use and only lasted for a short time so they couldn't activate it as soon as they went in the safe house).

"Go help them!" The jonins didn't need to be told twice. They quickly ran towards the safe houses, each shouting out the names of their family and friends. Naruto was the fastest, shouting "Hinata! Are you alright?" Hinata was pregnant with Naruto's first child, and Naruto was always fussing over her. Thankfully, she was alright. She also carried Asuma's and Kurenai's child, who immediately ran to Asuma and Kurenai. However, Kakashi saw that a least two house worth of people were missing, _'Not everyone made it.'_

"Watch out!" Kakashi looked up and realized with horror that the Dead Soul army was moving towards them. No doubt that the caster was commanding them to attack people who could not fight back.

"Everyone, protect the civilians! Start escorting them onto Training Ground 10!" Kakashi turned to his four ANBU guards that were following him. "You too. I'm going to go search for the castor."

"But Hokage-sama, it would be safer for you to escape with the civilians." One of the ANBUs protested. Kakashi shook his head. "A Hokage's duty is to protect the village, what kind of hokage would I be if I hid with the civilians? Besides, I'm one of the best trackers in the village."

The ANBU hesitantly went to protect the civilians. The Dead Soul army might be almost invincible, but they were slowly being driven back. Sure, ninjas bled while the Dead Soul army didn't, and they tired more easily, but every single ninja of the leaf would gladly give their life and fight to their last breath in order to protect their village and more importantly, the people in it. Kakashi smiled with pride, then summoned his pack.

"What happened?" Pakkun asked. Kakashi quickly told his pack what happened. "I want you to find the castor, and quickly." They barked in confirmation and sniffed the ground. "This way," Pakkun ran towards the east side of the village, and Kakashi hurried after him.

* * *

Naruto quickly stabbed one of the dead bodies controlled by the Dead Soul Jutsu, but it just kept coming. He quickly used a wind style jutsu to push it back.

"Konohamaru, escort Hinata to safety. I'm counting on you." Konohamaru nodded seriously and turned to Hinata. "Hinata-san, let's hurry."

Hinata looked at Naruto worriedly. "Please be safe Naruto-kun."

"Of course I will. After all, I have to be a father to our child." Hinata smiled at Naruto's words and kissed Naruto quickly. "Stay safe," Hinata said before going in the direction of the training fields. Naruto watched Hinata go, then went to stand by his teammates Sakura and Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke, do you know how to stop them?"

"We have to kill the person who cast the jutsu of course." Sasuke said and he blew a fireball at a group of them.

"We should go after him, we can't hold them off any longer." Naruto shouted back as he used a Rasengan on one of the Dead Soul bodies.

"But Kakashi-sensei already went to help Kiba and Kurenai. Besides, how will we track the castor down?" Sakura asked as she punched one of the Dead Soul bodies halfway across Konoha.

"We're going to help them too. I'll track them down with my Senjutsu." Naruto closed his eyes and gathered sage chakra, trusting Sasuke and Sakura to keep him safe. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were yellow with a horizontal pupil in each eye. All of a sudden he could sense every living being within a five mile radius.

"Kiba and Kurenai have stopped moving...Kiba's chakra's kind of weird, I think he got injured...wait, I sense the caster...he's heading towards the east side of the village...and Kakashi-sensei is near him. Let's hurry." They hurried towards the east side of the village, hoping that they could stop the caster before any more people get hurt.

* * *

The first thing that Kakashi saw as he turned around a corner was a kunai aimed straight for his face. Luckily, the Sharingan allowed him to dodge the attack before it landed. He stared at the cloaked figure who was standing in the middle of the road. _'He's good, I didn't sense him at all.'_

"What are you doing in Konoha?" Kakashi demanded. The figure said nothing, and continued doing whatever he was doing before Kakashi came. After a couple of seconds, the figure straightened and turned to face Kakashi. Kakashi still couldn't see his or her face though, the hood of the cloak still hid it.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Speak! Why are you attacking Konoha?"

The figure chuckled, a very familiar laugh. "Why, Kakashi, you should know that I have _plenty_ of reasons to attack Konoha."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "You!"

The figure lifted his head, and a young man with grey hair could be seen.

Kabuto looked at Kakashi with a smirk on his face. "What? Surprised to see me?"

Kabuto's face was a lot different from when Kakashi had last seen him. His eyes were yellow with purple markings around it, like Orochimaru's.

"What happened to your face?"

"I implanted Orochimaru's cells into me. You wouldn't believe how strong I've become, Kakashi."

"So what Naruto said was true, you've really became a freak."

"Better be a freak than be weak." Kabuto said.

Kakashi took this opportunity to closed his right eye and looked around with his Sharingan, trying to see what Kabuto was planning. He inhaled sharply as he saw a large amount of chakra gathering in a space behind Kabuto. "What are you doing?"

Kabuto laughed evilly, "You've finally noticed, haven't you?" He stepped to one side and Kakashi could see what looked like a huge explosive tag.

"There are 4 of these around the village, they are set to go off at midnight. Each one of them has enough explosive power to blow up an entire village."

Kakashi's first instinct was to do whatever he could do to rip the tag off, but as he thought it over, it seemed too suspicious.

"Why are you telling me this? I can just tell Pakkun to tell my jonins and they can take the tags off while I hold you off. Even if you take me down, you are no match for the entire leaf village," Kakashi said. Kabuto laughed manically and gestured towards the explosive tag.

"You can take the tags down if you want, however, the person who takes the tag down...dies," Kabuto smirked at Kakashi's shocked expression. "Also, clones and summons don't work. Even I can't take the tags down without dying myself."

' _This talk has gone on long enough,'_ Kakashi thought to himself. He gathered chakra around his right hand and charged towards Kabuto with a Raikiri. The Raikiri struck Kabuto squarely in the chest, however Kabuto just laughed. Kakashi pulled his arm out, and saw that the hole created by the Raikiri was already starting to heal.

"Oops, I forgot to mention that you can't kill me with anything as simple as a hole in my chest." Several snakes shot out of Kabuto's arms and wrapped themselves around Kakashi's neck and arms, choking him.

"It seems like this is all the great Copy Ninja's got. Die." Kakashi's vision started to go black. He gathered chakra behind his left eye and was about to use Kamui when a Chidori Spear cut through the snakes.

"Nobody hurts our sensei and gets away with it!" Kabuto looked up and just barely got out of the way before Sakura's fist smashed into the ground, creating a humongous cloud of dust. Before Kabuto could even try to attack Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke charged towards Kabuto from both sides, with a Chidori and Rasengan in their hands.

The two powerful jutsus hit Kabuto, and Naruto smiled triumphantly, "That's what you get!"

"Naruto, Sasuke, get back, he's not dead!" Naruto and Sasuke leaped back to land in front of Kakashi and watched in surprise as Kabuto's skin knitted back together.

"How is he healing so fast?" Sakura said and joined her team.

Kabuto acknowledged the rest of team 7 by nodding his head mockingly. "Ahh, Naruto, Sasuke, it's been a long time. And now I've seen your teammate Sakura too. The whole team seven is here."

"Kabuto, you're responsible for what happened tonight, aren't you?" Naruto snarled at Kabuto, "You coward. You blew up the safe houses, you caused many people to die today. You ordered those 9 jinchurikis to die for you! Hinata could have died today! I'm going to kill you!"

"While I'm really tempted to see you try, I'd prefer to see Konoha blow up. See you later, if you survive. I wonder what you will do, Kakashi." Kabuto threw a smoke bomb down, and thick purple smoke enveloped him. "Wait!" Naruto started forward, but Kabuto had already disappeared.

"Sensei, what did he mean about Konoha blowing up?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi quickly told his team about the explosive tags, and after he finished they were all pale with fear. Kakashi quickly turned to his ninja hounds.

"Go tell everyone about what happened, tell them to evacuate quickly!" They nodded and disappeared.

"Sensei, the tags go off at midnight right?" Sakura said hesitantly.

"Yes. If we hurry everyone should be safe."

"I don't think we have enough time," Sakura said. They all looked at her, confused. Sakura pointed at a clock that was lying in the debris of a destroyed house nearby. Despair threatened to choke Kakashi.

"The civilians will never move that fast, they won't make it in time." Kakashi knew that it takes civilians would take about 10 minutes to evacuate the village. The elderly and children would take even longer. Now he understood about the "choice" that Kabuto was talking about. Only ninja could leave the village in time before the explosive tags went off.

11:55

They could either die helping the civilians, or abandon them to their deaths.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 **Sorry about the long wait, I was busy practicing for a competition. Only one more chapter to go before the story ends.**

* * *

"Pakkun! Bull! All of you!" Kakashi said to his ninken. "Go to Training Ground 10, tell everyone to evacuate immediately! Every genin and chunin are to carry as many people out of the village as they can, get all the children out first! Don't tell anyone about the explosive tags. Hurry!" His ninken nodded and raced away.

Kakashi turned to his students. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, you go help get everyone out too."

"What about you sensei?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi looked at the explosive tag, his eyes narrowed. "I'm going to find a way to take these explosive tags off." He walked towards the tag and stopped in front of it. "Hurry, you three. We have no time to lose." Kakashi sensed his team leave, going towards the direction of Training Ground 10. He knew that every ninja of the leaf would try their hardest to take the civilians out of the village, but it wouldn't be enough. There simply wasn't enough time. The jonins could probably make three trips, five max, before the explosive tags went off. The genins and chunins would only have enough time to make one or two. Also, because it was night, they would not be able to travel as fast. More than half of the leaf village population would not make it out of the village.

Kakashi analyzed the writing on the explosive tag. He was the Hokage now, and it was his responsibility to ensure everyone's safety in the village. He _had to_ find a way to dismantle the tags, and he would not give up, not until every member of the leaf was safe.

* * *

"Everyone start evacuating the village. If you are a ninja, carry as many people as you can out of the village. Children first! Hurry up!" Naruto shouted at the crowd. He looked at the clock nearby.

11:57

"3 minutes left!" Naruto grabbed the first 4 children he could see and started running as fast as he could towards the gates of Konoha. It broke his heart to see families begging the ninjas to take their children to safety, and saying good-byes like they would never see each other again. The only thing that offered him a bit of relief was that Hinata was already out of danger.

Naruto directed more chakra to his feet, going as fast as he dared. _'I have to hurry. Only 3 minutes left.'_ He dropped the children off at the designated spot that was far away enough from Konoha so the blast from the explosive tag wouldn't reach it. Naruto raced back, narrowly avoiding a tree branch. He skidded to a stop behind the line of civilians, and was about to carry more people out when he heard Pakkun shout his name.

"Pakkun, now's not the time!" Naruto said while picking up another group of civilians. Thankfully, all of the children had already been evacuated. Naruto saw Sasuke and Sakura nearby and nodded to them encouragingly. He was about to take off again when Pakkun said something that made him stop in his tracks.

"It's Kakashi, he's seriously hurt!"

Naruto quickly handed his group of civilians to another ninja and whirled around to stand in front of Pakkun. Sasuke and Sakura joined him a moment later, panic on their faces.

"What?"

"I can smell his scent, he seems to be in lots of pain!" Pakkun whimpered and whined anxiously. Naruto looked in the direction at where he had left his sensei, a sudden fear gripped his heart. _'Don't tell me he…'_ Naruto looked at his teammates, and he could tell that they had come to the same conclusion. Naruto started towards the direction of the explosive tag, but Sasuke held out his arm to stop him.

"What about the civilians? We don't have enough time to do both." Sasuke said. Naruto looked at the clock.

 _11:58_

"I'll save everyone somehow." Naruto said. "You two can stay here, I'll go help sensei." Naruto channeled as much chakra as he dared into his feet and sprang off towards the explosive tag. He was surprised when Sasuke and Sakura joined him a moment later.

"We're part of team seven too. If you go, we go." Sakura said while Sasuke nodded agreement. Naruto smiled, then sobered when his thoughts turned to his sensei.

' _Please be okay, sensei."_

* * *

 _(Two minute earlier)_

Kakashi gritted his teeth in frustration. He had tried everything he could think of. Clones didn't work, neither did dousing it with a water jutsu. Kakashi looked at the clock.

11:56

' _Maybe this will work.'_ Kakashi quickly went through the many seals needed for the jutsu.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu) Kakashi made the dragon open its mouth and attempt to rip the tag off. However, the dragon's mouth just glanced off the tag. After a few more moments Kakashi was forced to release the jutsu before too much of his chakra was drained. Kakashi looked at the time.

11:57

' _This is bad, only 3 more minutes left.'_ Kakashi jumped onto a nearby building. From his position he could see the line of civilians moving slowly, too slowly, towards the village gates. Kakashi noticed three of his ninken coming towards him and jumped down to greet them.

"Boss, one of the explosive tags is in Training Ground 8. Another is at the base of the Hokage mountain. The last one is on the memorial stone." The ninken with the sunglasses said.

' _So Kabuto wasn't placing the explosive tags randomly. The one in Training Ground 8 was supposed to endanger all of the civilians at Training Ground 10. The one at the base of the Hokage Tower was to destroy the monuments of the Hokages. And the one on the memorial stone...is designed to rattle me.'_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"Thanks. Go help the civilians evacuate, do what you can. However, if the explosive tags go off, I want you to go home (wherever they go when they're not summoned). No arguing." Kakashi said when his ninkens tried to protest. They nodded reluctantly and sprang off. Kakashi glanced at the clock.

11:58

Kakashi stepped in front of the explosive tag. There was only one choice now. His life against almost half of the civilian population was no contest, his would always come second. About five years ago, Kakashi would have no regrets dying, since most of his loved ones were dead anyways, but was that really true? Kakashi thought of his friends, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, and most of all, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. The only regret he would have, was that he wouldn't be able to spend more time with them. Kakashi placed his hand on the explosive tag, and thought of his team.

' _I'm sorry.'_ Kakashi said silently before taking a deep breath and held the tip of the explosive tag. Based on what he knew about Kabuto, his death would likely be a slow and painful one, though maybe he could use that to his advantage. _'If I can just hang on just long enough to take down all the tags, only one more person will have to die tonight.'_ Kakashi steeled himself, and before he could hesitate any longer, he ripped the tag off.

A few feet behind him, the clock flickered as the time changed.

11:59

One more minute.

* * *

Kabuto stood on top of the Sandaime's head. The crowd of civilians walking slowly towards the gate were like a line of ants from up here, running futilely away from their deaths. Every couple of seconds he could see figures darting in and out the crowd, the leaf ninjas trying their best to save what lives they could. However, despite their efforts, it was all in vain. After the leaf village gets destroyed, he would hunt the survivors down one by one, until no one was left.

' _One more minute left, before Konoha explodes.'_ Kabuto thought giddily. He looked down at the sculpture of the Sandaime.

"Ha, Sandaime. All your efforts to protect the village, sacrificing your life in the process, and now it's going to get destroyed. After I'm done here, I'm going to blow up the rest of the hidden villages one by one, until no one is left to challenge me. And no one will be left to remember you. Soon, Konoha will fade into a distant memory."

* * *

Agony raced down his spine and spread throughout his body. It felt like his body was being burned, drowned, crushed, sliced, and ripped into pieces at the same time. Kakashi fell onto his knees and tasted blood in his mouth. He had never imagined one could feel this much pain. Even worse than the pain were the images flashing before his eyes. His father lying dead on the floor, Obito crushed under the rock, Rin dying with a Chidori through her heart, his sensei's dead body with a hole through his chest with Kushina lying next to him, all the worst memories of his life. Kakashi forgot about who he was, where he was, his resolve to take off all the explosive tags. Right now, all that mattered was finding a way to end this pain, this agony. For the first time in a long time, Kakashi wanted...to die.

Kakashi suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. A warm yellow chakra enveloped him, and though the pain didn't go away, Kakashi's mind felt a lot clearer. He looked up and saw a familiar mop of blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Giving up already, Kakashi?" Minato said. He looked ghost-like, almost invisible, and Kakashi could see the wall through him. There was no shadow beneath him, and Kakashi was pretty sure no one but him could see Minato.

"Sensei…"

"You're Hokage now, you have a village to protect, don't forget that. Though you don't have to do it alone, don't forget we're here to help you." Minato smiled and held his hands together for the seal of the teleportation jutsu. After the puff of smoke cleared, Kakashi was in front of the Hokage monument, with the explosive tag right before him. "Hurry up, only 40 seconds left. I can't stay for any longer. I'm counting on you." Minato said before disappearing. Kakashi struggled to his feet. _'I don't have much time left, but...I have to hang on and save my village, my comrades.'_ Seeing his teacher had cleared Kakashi's mind and gave him a clear objective. He gritted his teeth and took the explosive tag off in a single fluid motion.

Pain came again, but this time the agony was doubled, the hallucinations were also more frightening than before. Kakashi saw himself standing in a pool of blood, surrounded by the corpses of everyone he failed to save, every teammate of his that died. The blood rose higher and higher until Kakashi was drowning in it. All he could see was red, and his mouth was filled with the bitter taste of blood. Kakashi instinctively tried to inhale, but blood filled his throat. _'Is this...my punishment for failing everyone?'_ Kakashi thought as he saw himself kill Rin over and over. He tried to call out for his younger self to stop, for Rin to dodge, for anything that could stop Rin from dying, but nothing changed. _'I deserve this, don't I? For breaking my promise to you, Obito, for being a horrible teammate. You two were better off without me. If I died that day instead of you, Obito, you could have lived happily together with Rin. You wouldn't have been corrupted by Madara. Sensei and Kushina would still be alive, and lots of deaths would have been prevented. I'm such a piece of scum. Why did you save me, Obito? Why didn't you hate me after Obito died, Rin?'_

"Kakashi…" Rin's voice sounded out again. Kakashi desperately tried to block out her voice, he didn't want to hear his teammates dying words over and over again.

"Kakashi…" Rin's voice came again. Was it just him or did her voice sound clearer than she did when she died?

"Kakashi!" Kakashi's vision cleared suddenly. He caught a glimpse of a brown haired girl before lurching forward and coughing up blood, though it wasn't as much as it had seemed in the hallucination. Kakashi gasped for breath, it was becoming harder and harder to breathe. It felt like an invisible force was choking him, slowly increasing its grip.

A small hand suddenly closed around Kakashi's, sending a burst of warmth throughout his body. The pain disappeared, and Kakashi could finally breathe normally. He looked up.

"Rin..."

Rin gently pulled him to his feet. "Kakashi, you're our friend, and friends would sacrifice their life for each other. You have friends in the village that need you right now, so hurry up. Only 25 seconds left. Don't give up now."

She formed the teleportation jutsu hand sign like Minato did, and Kakashi appeared on Training Ground 8. The explosive tag was directly before him on a tree, and Kakashi knew that he had no time to waste. Rin had stopped the pain, but ripping off the tag again would cause the pain to be tripled. But he was the Hokage, and the lives of many depended on him. Kakashi took off the tag, and as expected, the pain came again, though it didn't make it any easier to bear.

Suddenly, Kakashi found himself in the middle of Konoha. No, he was in a battlefield. All around him ninjas fought. Konoha shinobi against ninjas from every other village. But that can't be right, they had an alliance.

As if answering his question, Naruto ran past him, screaming with rage.

"We trusted you! Why did you break the alliance?!"

An unknown cloud shinobi sneered, laughing while he spoke. "Did you really think we would honor the alliance. The villages have been war at each other since the beginning, do you think we would stop now? The other villages have all agreed to team up against Konoha first. Konoha has become too strong, too powerful. It needs to be destroyed."

Kakashi tried to move, to do something, but he couldn't move. He watched helplessly as Konoha shinobis fell one after another. He watched as Gai, Neji, Tenten, Kiba, Choji got killed one after another. He watched as civilians was massacred, trying to run away in vain. He watched as children were snatched from their beds and murdered in cold blood. He watched as Asuma and Kurenai died trying to protect their child, but another enemy shinobi killed her soon after. He watched as Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura fought bravely against the enemy shinobis but were killed.

A dark and ominous presence suddenly came towards Kakashi.

"Madara." Kakashi said, his mouth dry.

"Kakashi Hatake. Obito has told me a lot about you, though he can't anymore. He's dead, like all of your precious comrades and village. How does it feel, knowing that you couldn't do anything to prevent it?"

Kakashi couldn't say anything, not that he had anything to say. Madara smiled coldly and took out a kunai.

"Die with your village, Rokudaime." After saying that, Madara thrust his arm forward.

Pain exploded in his stomach and he doubled over, falling onto the ground, the dying shrieks of the leaf shinobis and civilians in his ears. _'No, this can't be happening. This isn't real, this isn't real...this isn't real.'_

"Bakashi! What are you doing? Get up, this isn't real idiot!"

"Obito?"

"Stand up! Stop wasting time, you don't have any to waste!"

A pair of feet appeared in Kakashi's vision and hands quickly pulled him up. Kakashi tried to catch his breath, he still felt as if a red hot poker was in his stomach and that a thousand needles were stabbing into every inch of his flesh.

"O...bi...to?" Kakashi wheezed, almost falling back down again.

"Yes, me, Obito, your friend. Come on, snap out of it. I would talk more, but there's no time to chat. There's still one more explosive tag. It's on the memorial stone, you can't let that snake Kabuto succeed. There's only 15 seconds left, are you going to give up and die in vain?"

Obito teleported them in front of the memorial stone. The explosive tag was covered most of the memorial stone, but Kakashi could still see the place where Obito's name was. Even though most of the village wanted Obito's name off the stone, Kakashi managed to convince them to keep it on.

"Come on Kakashi, hurry up! Only 10 seconds left!" Obito said. Kakashi tried to move forward, but fell as pain racked through his entire body.

"I can't Obito." Kakashi bit back a scream as another wave of pain wrenched through him. He recognized some of the injures too. His heart felt numb, like the Chidori he had thrust through Rin's heart. He also felt like something had stabbed through his stomach, like Minato's injury, which was caused the Kyuubi. Worst of all, Kakashi couldn't feel his right side, as if it was crushed, and his left eye felt like it was being ripped out of its socket.

"You can do it, Kakashi. I believe in you." Obito extended his hand, and Kakashi accepted it. A tidal wave of strength flowed from Obito into Kakashi, making Kakashi feel like he could take on anything, even Kaguya. Obito disappeared, but he left Kakashi feeling stronger than ever.

Kakashi got up and quickly stepped towards the explosive tag. Minato had given him focus, Rin had given him relief, and Obito had given him strength. He couldn't fail after all they had done to help him. He extended his hand.

 _3_

Kakashi grabbed the tip.

 _2_

Kakashi tensed as he prepared to rip it off.

 _1_

 _Rrrrrippppp._ Kakashi collapsed onto the ground as he stared at the fallen explosive tag, praying that he had made it in time. Nothing happened as the explosive tag crumbled to dust and disappeared. Kakashi smiled triumphantly, the village was safe. He prepared himself for the pain, but surprisingly, there was no pain, probably because he was losing feeling of his body.

' _If this is death, then dying isn't so bad.'_ Kakashi thought to himself. He looked at the night sky one last time, then all he could see was darkness.

* * *

Kabuto hissed in fury. Why had the explosive tags not gone off? He was certain that the tags would not malfunction. He sprang off the Third Hokage's head and into the village below. If the explosive tags would not destroy the village, he would. By killing every single person in the most excruciating way possible.

* * *

Naruto stopped dead as his sensei's chakra faltered and disappeared. For the past minute he and his teammates had been trying to follow Kakashi's chakra, though it seemed to jump from place to place for some reason. Now, his chakra had disappeared, which could only mean one thing.

"Sensei's chakra disappeared, I can't sense it anymore." Naruto said, though he could hardly hear his voice. Sakura gasped and covered her mouth.

"It's midnight, the tags didn't go off." Sasuke said in a choked voice.

"Don't tell me, sensei…" Sakura broke off, swallowing her tears.

"He saved the village, but died in the process." Naruto finished. Sakura fell to her knees and started crying. Sasuke was still staring in shock at the direction that Kakashi's chakra was last sensed. Naruto retreated from Sage Mode, despair filling his heart.

' _We were too late.'_

* * *

At first all Kakashi could see was darkness, but a light appeared in the distance. It came closer and closer until Kakashi found himself in Konoha, standing next to the memorial stone. It was a bright and sunny morning, but Kakashi hardly noticed. The three people standing in front of him had all of his attention.

"Hello Kakashi." Minato said, smiling.

"Am I dead?"

"Unfortunately, you will, but not yet." Rin said.

"Not yet?"

"Don't you have some people to say goodbye to before you join us?" Obito questioned, though Kakashi knew he already knew the answer. Three people came to his mind.

"My students."

"I'm sure that Naruto would hate you forever if you don't say goodbye. Same with the other two." Minato said.

"You have to go say goodbye, Kakashi. Comfort them a little, you know how hard it is going to be for them." Rin said.

"Go say goodbye, you still owe them that." Obito punched him lightly on the arm. Before Kakashi could say anything else, they started to fade.

"We'll see you later, Kakashi. Your parents are still waiting for you."

* * *

Kakashi returned to consciousness slowly. Above him three people shouted worriedly, one of them was trying to use Medical Ninjutsu on him, though Kakashi knew it was going to be in vain.

"Sakura...it's no use, I'm going to die."

"Kakashi-sensei!" They all crouched over him, tears blurring their eyes.

"Is...the village okay?"

"The village is fine, everyone's safe." Sasuke said.

"Good…"

"What were you thinking, sensei?!" Naruto said. "Why did you sacrifice your life, I could have done it!"

"You need to be Hokage, Naruto. Besides, I'm the Hokage, it's my duty."

"But sensei...don't go." Sakura said, wiping away her tears.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay for much longer, I can feel myself...slipping away already." Kakashi could almost feel the despair and sadness from them. He smiled, though breathing was becoming harder and harder for him.

"Hey, don't be sad...it's going to be okay...you three...all have...a wonderful future in front of you...Naruto...you're going to be the Nanadaime...Sasuke, eventually you'll...rebuild your clan...Sakura...you will be...the greatest medic Konoha has ever seen...the only regret...I will have...is not seeing you three achieve those things."

"Sensei…" Naruto said.

"I'm...so proud of you all...I could never have...had any better students...take care of yourselves...protect the village...and always...treasure your comrades...that's...all I have to say."

"We'll do that." Sasuke said.

Black spots danced before his eyes, and Kakashi coughed violently. His students flinched at the noise and looked at him helplessly.

"I can't...hang on any longer…"

"No! You can't leave sensei!" Sakura shouted in frustration.

"Every person's journey ends sometime...and mine...ends here…" Kakashi looked at the three people alive that he treasure the most. He would regret leaving them behind, but he felt no fear in dying. Above them, he saw Obito, Rin, and Minato's faces staring down at them, and behind them, Kakashi could see a silver haired figure with a woman beside him. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's faces were getting foggier, but their faces were becoming clearer. His time had come at last.

"Farewell forever...Naruto...Sasuke...Sakura...I love you all…"

And with that Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja of the leaf, the Sixth Hokage, and the teacher of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno breathed his last.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 **Sorry for the super long delay, I had an essay and was too busy to write.**

 **I added a few sentences at the end of Chapter 3 that I forgot to write. It isn't really important to the plot or anything but I felt that without it Kakashi's death just wasn't complete.**

 **Also, I'm only watched up to Naruto Shippuden #242, so I don't know what Kabuto's abilities are after he put Orochimaru's cells or something inside him, and I don't want to spoil anything by searching it up, so I'm sorry if I overestimate or underestimate Kabuto's abilities.**

* * *

 _(A few minutes earlier)_

Kakashi knew that he had no time to waste, and he should take the tags off as soon as possible, but this was something he had to do. He quickly took out a blank scroll and a pen and wrote several words down. After he took the final tag off, the one on the memorial stone, he would hide it there. However, he knew that his team would be able to find it. Kakashi placed it in his weapon pouch, making sure that he wouldn't lose it. He took a deep breath, placed his hand on it, and ripped it off.

* * *

 _(Also a few minutes earlier)_

"Konoha Daisenpu! (Leaf Great Whirlwind)" Gai lifted his body off the wheelchair using his hands and extended his good leg, knocking all the dead soul bodies near him away. It was already 11:59, and based on Kakashi's orders, every shinobi should be leaving the village right now, even if it meant abandoning the rest of the civilians. However, no one obeyed. Gai bet Kakashi knew that no one would follow his order, and he couldn't make anyone follow them anyway. Gai would have no regrets dying for the village, though he wished he could have said goodbye to his students and Kakashi.

"Gai! Watch out!" Pakkun, Kakashi's ninken, shouted. Gai quickly spun his wheelchair around and saw a group of dead soul bodies that had come too close.

"Gate of Limit, open!" The dead soul bodies were pushed back by the sheer amount of power coming from Gai. He was even able to completely obliterate a few of the bodies before he had to slump down in his wheelchair to rest a bit. Most of the jonins had gone to evacuate the village, so only some of the best jonins and Kakashi's ninkens were here fighting back the wave of dead soul bodies.

Gai knew his body couldn't stand it any longer. Ever since he opened the eighth gate against Madara, his body had become less resilient to the effects of the chakra gates. Still, he would defend the village to his very last breath. Gai leaped off his wheelchair and bowled into a group of dead soul bodies while hopping on one leg. He was in the middle of succeeding in pushing them back when he felt something...wrong. Gai glanced at Kakashi's ninkens. They had felt it too, and were even more worried than him. They had froze, and after a few seconds, they all turned and ran towards the east side of the village, completely ignoring the dead soul bodies that were left and the rest of the jonins.

Gai stopped dead and stared after them. For Kakashi's ninken to abandon their posts and rush away only meant one thing: something had happened to Kakashi. He longed to run after them and check on his rival himself, but he could not abandon his fellow comrades. Gai returned to the battle, anxiety still clouding his mind.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto stared at his teacher's still form, hoping for any movement, any movement at all, but there was none. Sakura used her medical ninjutsu again, not caring that she was using up her chakra. Sasuke closed his eyes, wishing that this was all a dream, but he knew it was not.

"Sensei! Don't leave us! Don't go off and-" Naruto stopped, unable to come to terms that his teacher really is...dead. He punched the ground in anger and frustration as tears blurred his vision.

"He's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead…" Sakura muttered frantically to herself as the green glow coming from her hand intensified.

"He's dead Sakura, there's nothing you can do." Sasuke laid a hand on Sakura's' shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

"Sensei's only hurt, I have to heal him." Sakura said stubbornly. Naruto looked at Sakura helplessly, and was just about to answer when someone cut him off.

"Sasuke-kun is right, your sensei is dead, trying to save a village that is going to die anyway." Naruto looked up and saw Kabuto standing casually a few feet in front of them. Dimly he sensed Sasuke and Sakura shifting into fighting stance, but his focus was entirely on the grey haired scoundrel in front of him. Naruto felt red chakra come out of his skin and cover him like a cloak, three tails appeared behind him. His appearance became more animal-like and frightening. Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were red with slitted pupils.

"You! You're the one who caused all this to happen! You killed sensei!" Naruto shouted. To his anger, Kabuto only smirked.

"So what? I'll make you a deal, Naruto. Right now, my Dead Soul Jutsu has raised an army of more than a thousand dead bodies, and I can raise more whenever I want to. Your village is lost, and you are outnumbered. Give up right now, and I'll let your friends go and give all the civilians a quick and painless death. If you don't, everyone of you dies slowly and painfully, no exception, right down to babies right out of a mother's womb. It's your choice."

Naruto clenched his fists and his body quivered with rage. "I would rather die than agree to your deal! You invaded our village and tried to destroy it! You attacked the safe houses cowardly and killed a ton of people! You killed our sensei! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! Kurama!" Naruto felt the Kyuubi give him a bunch of chakra, and his body shone bright yellow and glowed with power.

Kabuto laughed. "Like you can do something? Oh wait, you can. You can _die_ like your useless sensei did. You know, I was actually surprised that Kakashi was brave enough to try to take off the explosive tags. After all, people were always saving him, not the other way around. Well, maybe he was too stupid to realize the danger-"

Kabuto was cut off abruptly when Naruto snarled and punched a nearby wall in anger. The wall was obliterated instantly. Kurama's voice told Naruto to calm down, but he ignored him.

"Shut up! You're going to pay for what you did!"

"What makes you think that you can beat me alone?" Kabuto asked confidently.

Naruto smirked. "Who said I was alone?"

"That Kabuto needs to be taught a lesson." Sakura said from his right. She cracked her knuckles menacingly.

"I agree." Sasuke's voice came from his left. He activated his sharingan and rinnegan. For a second, Naruto saw a flicker of uncertainty appear on Kabuto's face, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"It's futile, you're just digging your own graves."

Naruto ignored Kabuto's words and stood up straighter.

"I'd like to see you try to defeat Team 7 together!" Naruto tried to make his voice sound as confident as possible, but he knew that all of team 7 wasn't here. As much as he hoped that Kakashi didn't really die and this was just a false alarm like last time, he knew this time...Kakashi really was dead. His teacher's dead body behind him proved that.

But right now he had to focus, he could grieve later. Right now, he had to protect Konoha and his comrades.

* * *

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A hundred clones appeared and ran towards Kabuto, who was trying to get away while Naruto was distracted by his thoughts. Kabuto snorted as he dispelled them easily with his snakes.

"Is that all you've got?" Kabuto said while staring in the general direction of team seven (the smoke from the dispelled clones made it hard to see). For a few moments there was only silence, then the sound of birds chirping came from his left. _'Too easy.'_ A snake shot out from his sleeve with near untraceable speed towards where the sound had come from.

Kabuto smiled as a scream rang out, but his smile quickly faded when he heard the unmistakable "pop" of a clone dispelling. He growled in frustration and took a deep breath.

"Futon: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)" A powerful gust of wind blew away all the smoke, but no one could be seen. Kabuto frowned, _'where did they go?'_

Suddenly, the ground in front of him exploded, rocks and debris flying everywhere.

"Shannaro! This is for my sensei!" Sakura yelled as she pulled back her fist.

Kabuto leaped backwards, but was too slow to avoid the fist coming straight towards him. He just had enough time avoid a punch to the face that would have surely knocked him out for a punch in the stomach. Kabuto winced in pain as he flew backwards. Ignoring the pain in his stomach, he tried to twist around, but before he could an intense pain flared in his right shoulder.

"Chidori Eiso! (Chidori Sharp Spear)" A calm voice said behind him. Kabuto turned his head to see a spear made out of blue electricity sticking out of his shoulder. Already, the spear was making his entire right arm numb. Kabuto gritted his teeth and ran forward, pulling the Chidori Spear out of his shoulder.. He turned around to face Sasuke.

"You brat! Betraying Orochimaru and I like that. You won't defeat me, not like this!" Kabuto hissed as he gathered his chakra.

"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei! (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation) Madara!" Kabuto still had one more trick up his sleeve, he had already prepared it beforehand. He would summon the one and only Madara. Kabuto grinned maniacally, but was surprised to see Sasuke standing calmly, and instead of being shocked or cowering in fear, he was smirking.

"What's so funny?" Kabuto asked suspiciously. All he had to do was clap his hands together and the jutsu would begin, but he didn't just in case the young Uchiha had something that could stop the jutsu. "You've fought Madara before, you know how powerful he is."

"Look behind you." Sasuke said. Kabuto turned around, and...saw Sakura merely two feet away, arm pulled back for another punch. He quickly leaped up into the air to avoid her.

"Did you really think you could hit me with that-" An explosion rocked the whole area, and Kabuto saw entire houses getting destroyed instantly, huge clouds of smoke rose up. A humming sound filled his ears, and in the middle of all the smoke, there was the shadow of a person holding a humongous shuriken above his head. The humming sound started growing louder and louder, and ferocious gusts of wind blew the smoke away.

"This is for Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, eyes blazing with anger and hatred. "Futon: Choodama Rasenshuriken! (Wind Release: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken)"

* * *

Naruto threw his arm forward, and the deadly jutsu flew towards Kabuto. Kabuto desperately tried to protect himself by making his snake summons surround him, but it was all in vain. The jutsu tore through the snakes like they were paper and smashed into him. Thousands of slashes cut into Kabuto's body, damaging his chakra coils beyond repair. For several seconds Kabuto was suspended in the air, screaming from the pain the jutsu caused, then fell several meters down onto the ground.

Miraculously, Kabuto was able to get up even after being hit by Naruto's ultimate jutsu. _'Orochimaru's cells must have protected him from my Rasenshuriken, but I'm not done yet.'_ He started gathering chakra in his palm.

"This is for all the people who died tonight because of you!" Naruto charged forward with a giant blue spiraling orb of chakra in his hand.

"Odama Rasengan! (Giant Rasengan)" He smashed the Rasengan into Kabuto's chest, throwing him backwards. Kabuto's body flew backwards until he crashed into the wall of a house. He coughed up blood as he laid there, unable to move or create jutsus. Kabuto looked up, and saw Naruto standing over him, expression murderous. And for the first time in a long time, Kabuto felt fear fill his heart.

"This is for the village!" Naruto shouted as he punched Kabuto hard enough to break his nose. Kabuto saw stars as he felt black spots appear in his vision. Naruto took out a kunai, and Kabuto waited for the killing blow that Naruto would surely deliver, but none came. He lifted his head saw Naruto panting harshly, his kunai an inch away from Kabuto's throat.

"Aren't you going to kill me now?" Kabuto rasped. Naruto's eyes darkened, but the kunai didn't move.

"I want to kill you, I want to kill you so badly. But if I do, the cycle of hatred would continue, and I'm not selfish enough to do that." Naruto flipped the kunai around and hit Kabuto unconscious with the end of the kunai. He then took out a spool of ninja wire and bound Kabuto's wrist together. The Rasenshuriken destroyed Kabuto's chakra coils, he would never be able to use his chakra again. Naruto dimly sensed the rest of the leaf village ninjas coming towards them, but he didn't move. Naruto stared at Kabuto for a few more minutes before straightening and walking over to his teammates.

* * *

"The dead soul bodies are disappearing! The summoner must have been defeated!" A random jonin shouted. Gai looked around disbelievingly as the dead soul bodies fell one by one and crumbled into dust.

"Wait, it's 00:05. The village hasn't been destroyed yet!" All of them had been too worried about the dead soul army to realize that a minute had passed. The other jonins were cheering with joy and going off to check on their family, but Gai was rolling his wheelchair as fast as he could towards where Kakashi's ninken had ran to. He had to make sure his eternal rival was okay.

It felt like eternity to Gai, though it probably was much shorter. What he saw made his heart freeze. Kakashi's students were standing off to the side, their faces were contorted with sorrow. Pakkun and the rest of the pack were huddled around a dark shape on the ground. Gai rolled his wheelchair slowly towards them, dread filling his mind. Clouds started to drift across the moon, making the moonlight disappear, but Gai could clearly see Kakashi's masked face, already pale from death. No, this couldn't be happening. What were his last words to his rival again?

 _How can we be Eternal Rivals if we do not fight together? Don't worry, this will not diminish my YOUTHFUL spirit at all!_

He had believed he was stating the truth then, but he had been speaking a lie.

' _I have failed you, Kakashi. I couldn't come to aid you when you needed help. What are rivals for if we do not even fight together? How could my spirit remain youthful with you gone?'_

Gai wheeled his wheelchair to a stop beside his longtime friend and rival's dead body. He fell forward out of his wheelchair and landed on his knees painfully, but he hardly noticed. Tears flowed freely from his face as Gai choked out the name of his closest friend.

"Kakashi…"

* * *

They stood several meters away, giving Kakashi's pack and Gai space to grieve. More ninjas started to appear, and soon most of the village's ninja population was here. Half of them stared in horror at Kakashi's body, while the other half crowded around them, pelting them with questions.

"What happened?"

"Is the village safe?"

"The dead soul army just...disappeared. What's happening?"

"Is Kakashi...dead?"

"Is that Kabuto?"

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. Right now, all he felt like doing was going far away from this place and forgetting everything that had just happened. But Kakashi had passed on the title of Hokage to him, and even though he wasn't officially Hokage yet, if the Daimyo disagreed he'd probably have a revolution on his doorstep. Naruto never wanted to earn the Hokage title this way, but he had to take up the mantle. Everyone was looking for a leader now, someone had to step up and take charge. Naruto straightened and tried to project an aura of calmness and confidence.

"I will tell everything that has happened on top of the Hokage Tower. Gather everyone below the Hokage Tower, including the civilians, in ten minutes. Take the wounded to the medics. Go!"

Everyone obeyed and left, glad to have someone to tell them what to do. Naruto nodded to Sakura and Sasuke, signalling for them to take Kabuto into Konoha's prison. Now, only Gai and Kakashi's ninkens were left. He walked over to them and crouched down. Naruto looked with a feeling of detachment as Pakkun nudged Kakashi's hand and crawled under it, whimpering the whole time. The other ninkens lay down around Kakashi and buried their nose in their master's cloth, trying to remember his scent before it faded. After a few moments, Gai spoke.

"Did...my rival die an honorable death?" Gai wasn't crying anymore, Naruto noticed, but that didn't mean the pain was any less. Most people in the village thought Gai was eccentric, overemotional, and weird, so they generally avoided him. In the whole village, probably only his students, the Hokage, the Rookie 9, Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi didn't look down upon him. However, Kakashi was Gai's best friend, the only one who thought of him like an equal (at the end of the war), and the pain of losing your best friend could not be expressed through tears.

"Yes, he saved the village."

"What happened?" The red dog with bandages said.

Naruto hadn't wanted to tell the story two times, but he figured he owed it to Gai and Kakashi's ninkens. He told him what had happened, all the way down to the last detail, though he kept Kakashi's words to his team to himself. After he finished, Kakashi's ninken were all trembling with fury, and Naruto was thankful that he hadn't told them that Kabuto was still alive. Naruto looked at Gai when he exhaled in relief.

"Though it seemed that he was in pain before he died, Kakashi was happy at the time of his death. It was the best death a shinobi could wish for except for dying of old age, being surrounded by his most loved ones. I just wish...that I could have talked with him...one last time." Gai said wistfully. He shook his head and said to Naruto, "go, go talk to the village. Show them that Kakashi's sacrifice wasn't in vain, that the village will survive, and that one day, peace will come. I'll stay here."

Naruto nodded and stood, throat too tight to speak. He looked at Kakashi and bowed, a gesture of respect he had never showed to anyone before. Naruto turned and walked toward the Hokage Tower, and though the pain wasn't entirely gone, it was eased a little bit from Gai's words.

* * *

Gai watched Naruto leave. _'He will make a fine Hokage, rival. You left the village in good hands.'_ Gai looked down at his forever broken leg. He remembered when he had opened the Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death. Gai had expected to die then, but miraculously, he had survived. However, back then, there wasn't enough time for him to say goodbye to Kakashi. Just like right now, Kakashi didn't have enough time to say farewell to him. Gai sighed and laid down, looking up at the night sky.

' _Farewell, Eternal Rival.'_ Gai thought to himself silently, hoping that Kakashi could hear his words, wherever he was right now. He felt his hair move slightly as a gust of wind came, lifting up the leaves scattered on the ground. The leaves swirled above him, and he heard an achingly familiar voice.

' _Thank you, Gai, for everything.'_

"Kakashi!" Gai bolted upright as the wind then carried the leaves to Kakashi's ninken. Kakashi's voice spoke again as all the ninken whined sadly.

' _Pakkun, Bull, Urushi, Shiba, Akino, Uhei, Guruko, Bisuke, I'll miss you all. Thank you for staying by my side this whole time.'_

After that the wind stopped, and the leaves settled back on the ground. Gai stared at it for a moment longer, then leaned back and smiled at Kakashi's body. Seems like his rival was still able to say goodbye after all.

' _I should thank you, my rival.'_

* * *

Naruto stared down at the crowd below, desperately trying to think of what to say. Sasuke and Sakura were behind him, the only other two people who knew what had happened last night. The sky was still dark, and Naruto estimated it was about one in the morning, but it seemed like everyone in the village was here. When Naruto saw no more people coming, he knew it was his time to start speaking.

"What do I say to them?" Naruto asked his teammates without turning his head, speaking softly so that the crowd below could not hear.

"I don't know, you're the inspirational one here." Sasuke replied.

"Ignore that idiot. Just do what you always do, be yourself. The village needs a hero to rely upon. Everyone's surprised that an attack happened after the Fourth Great Ninja War, they're afraid." Sakura said. Naruto looked at the crowd, and saw that everyone was staring at him, waiting for him to begin. _'Well, now or never.'_

"Tonight, an attack was made on the village. Kabuto Yakushi, a former accomplice of Orochimaru, was the cause. However, not only did he bring with him the jinchurikis and the Dead Soul Army, he also brought four explosive tags with him. These explosive tags were not the normal kind, each one of them could blow up a village by itself. Not only that, if someone tried to take even one of them off...they would die."

Gasps of astonishment came from the crowd. They had thought they were evacuating because of the Dead Soul Army, but now they knew how close they came to dying. Naruto took a deep breath, _'now for the hard part.'_ He had to explain to them how Kakashi died, though he knew some of the smarter ones had already figured it out based on their stricken expressions.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto's voice shook a bit as he continued. "...took _all_ four of the explosive tags off...and died in the process. Many other people died tonight as well. Kabuto is no longer a problem, he has been dealt with." Naruto didn't want the news that Kabuto was alive to become common knowledge. Most of the village might call for his head based on what happened tonight, and he himself was barely able to restrain from killing Kabuto right there on the spot. Naruto didn't want to lie to the village, and technically "dealt with" did not necessarily mean that Kabuto was killed, but he still felt a little guilty.

"The funeral shall be held tomorrow at noon. Everyone is welcome to attend." Naruto paused, and the crowd started shouting, each voice trying to top the rest.

"I thought this was supposed to be an age of peace?"

"Was the Fourth Great Ninja War fought for nothing?"

"Are we going to have to keep living in fear and suspense that something bad is going to happen, forever?"

"Wasn't defeating the Akatsuki and Kaguya enough to achieve peace?"

"Can there never be peace?"

"Enough!" Naruto shouted, and the crowd went silent.

* * *

Hinata watched anxiously as Naruto's blue eyes shone with determination. He pointed a finger behind him towards the Hokage Monument.

"Each one of the previous Hokages fought wars, risked their lives, sacrificed many things in order to achieve peace. It is our duty to not give up and believe that peace will come. It is _our_ duty to insure that Kakashi-sensei's, and the other Hokage's sacrifices were not in vain. Peace is not an impossible thing. Though there are many obstacles standing in the way, one day, there will be peace! If the shinobi world is cursed to stay in a cycle of hatred, then I will break that curse! If there's such thing as peace, I will find it. I won't give up!"

Hinata's eyes widened as she recognized the famous quote from Jiraiya's book. All around her, everyone was listening in rapt attention as Naruto continued.

"However, I can not find peace alone. So, in order to help your friends, your comrades, your family, never, _never_ , think that peace is an unachievable goal. If we all believe in it, and never give up, one day, one day, peace _will_ settle among the shinobi world and _finally_ break this cycle of hatred!"

A loud cheer went up in the crowd, and Hinata felt her heart swell with admiration and love for her husband. No matter what happened, Naruto was always able to inspire confidence in everyone. Naruto dipped his head in acknowledgement and turned to leave. Hinata was about to go talk to him when she felt pain in her pregnant belly. She let out a gasp and almost fell to the ground.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji, who was beside her, said as he gently supported her.

"The...doctor...I think...it's time."

* * *

The funeral was a plain event, though almost everyone from the village showed up. Laid out on a long table in front of the memorial stone were the photos of everyone who had perished last night. Kakashi's photo was in the middle. Instead of using the photo that was taken when Kakashi became Hokage, Naruto used Kakashi's jonin photo. Naruto knew that his sensei had never wanted to become the Hokage, and Naruto would rather remember Kakashi as team 7's sensei.

For a moment, Naruto was reminded of the time Kakashi had "died." But this time, he was dead for real, and the jar he was holding in his hand was proof of it. Civilian bodies and ninjas that didn't have any kekkei genkai or special qualities were buried, but otherwise the bodies were burned and the ashes were put in a jar. It was to prevent the secrets of the Leaf village in case the body was robbed, but it still left a bad taste in Naruto's mouth. Personally, he thought burning the bodies were kind of disrespectful to the dead, though he knew many ninjas didn't mind.

Naruto hadn't felt like speaking during the funeral, thankfully he wasn't officially Hokage yet, so he wasn't required to say anything. The Hokage ceremony was going to be sometime in the next few days, as soon as the Daimyo agrees.

Near the end of the funeral, Kakashi's ninken pack started howling in front of Kakashi's picture. The heartbreaking sound conveyed many emotions, including pain, sadness, grief, sorrow, and most of all, love. The howling ended after several minutes, where each ninken went up to Kakashi's picture and licked it gently before disappearing.

Finally, the funeral was over, and the names were carved into the memorial stone. Now only Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were left. The day was warm and sunny, a direct contrast to the general mood of the village, though it gave Naruto hope that perhaps...perhaps his sensei was finally resting in peace.

Naruto opened the jar, and as a gust of wind came, he tipped it over. They all watched as the ashes were blown further and further away until it disappeared from sight. Naruto turned his gaze onto the memorial stone. The name _Kakashi Hatake_ stood out, freshly carved.

"Sensei, I hope that wherever you are right now, that you're happy." Sakura murmured.

"I guess we're going to be spending a lot of time in front of the memorial stone now, just like you used to." Sasuke said.

"Kakashi-sensei, thank you. You taught us teamwork, a lesson we'll never forget. You always cared about other people more than yourself, I guess that's why you did it what you did. You were a great sensei, Hokage, and person." Naruto suddenly chuckled, remembering something.

"Sensei, guess what? I'm a father now. Hinata gave birth last night. It's a boy, and his name is Boruto Uzumaki. I wish you could have seen him, he looks just like me. I was thinking about making you his godfather, but I guess it's too late for that." Naruto's grin faded slowly. They stayed there for a few more minutes before deciding to leave.

"Goodbye, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, turning to leave. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a symbol that was sort of familiar drawn on the ground.

"Hey, Sasuke, Sakura, do you see that?" He pointed at the symbol. Sakura gasped in recognition, causing Naruto and Sasuke to look at her in confusion.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"That's a henohenomoheji!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's on all of Kakashi's ninken's backs. Kakashi-sensei must have left it as a message for us."

Naruto quickly walked over there are started digging. Soon, a small scroll could be seen. They rolled it open.

 _In my apartment, two feet to the right from my bed._

Beside it was a summoning symbol. Sakura put her hand on it and sent a pulse of chakra into it. A key popped out.

"In my apartment...does that mean he left us something there?" Sakura said.

"Well, only one way to find out." Naruto set off towards the direction of Kakashi's apartment, Sakura and Sasuke behind him. They reached it after a couple of minutes, and using the key to unlock the door, they went inside to find the bedroom. The apartment wasn't that big, so the bed wasn't that hard to find. Naruto went to the floorboard that was exactly two feet to the right from the bed and pried it open. Underneath it laid a small book.

"What is this?" Naruto said as he lifted the book up. He flipped it open, and immediately felt a wave of nostalgia.

Instead of words, he found pictures. Pages and pages of pictures, all of them had at least one member of team seven on it. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked through the photo album, and memories threatened to overwhelm them.

There was, of course, team 7's official genin photo. Then there was a picture of Naruto proudly holding up Tora, the Daimyo's wife's cat, after finally catching her. Following after that was a picture of them splattered with paint and bound by ninja wire. Naruto remembered that time well. He had tried to prank Kakashi, and had even convinced Sasuke and Sakura to help. But Kakashi had caught them, and turned their prank, which was to cover him with paint, onto them. ' _He was smiling so triumphantly when he took the picture, and I just remembered that I felt so angry. Though I wish things could go back to where they were then. It was so simple back then.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

There were pictures and pictures of them completing D-Rank missions, eating ramen, and just messing around with each other. Then, Sasuke disappeared from the photos. Soon after that, Naruto did too. There was one photo of Sakura becoming chunin, but that was all the photos that were taken before Naruto returned to the village.

The next photo was Team Kakashi, with Yamato as Kakashi and Sai as Sasuke. There were a few photos after that, but then it went straight to after the Fourth Shinobi War, where everyone was celebrating. After that the photos started to be more happier, with the war ending and Sasuke returning. The final picture was all of team 7 standing together, taken just a few weeks ago. Kakashi had said something about showing how much they had matured.

On the last page were a few words, written in their sensei's familiar handwriting. There was a date on top of it, May 31. _'This was written just five days ago.'_

 _You've read my will already, this time I only have several sentences for you._

 _No amount of words can ever convey how much I care about you three, and how proud I am of you. You have all matured a lot, and have grown into powerful, wise, and compassionate shinobis. Live your life to the fullest, and no matter what, never split up._

 _I wish you all a long and happy life. I have passed my legacy to you, and now it is time for you three to leave behind your own legacies. And though you three were my only students, I can tell you truthfully that you would have still been the best, out of everyone in the entire world. I have never regretted passing you three the first time we met. Farewell, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura._

 _-Kakashi Hatake, the sensei of Team Seven._

Three drops of tears fell onto the paper, and outside the window, flecks of ashes bobbed up and down gently in the wind, as if it was waving goodbye.

* * *

 **The End**

 **Thanks for the two people that reviewed, and any other people that might review in the future. Also big thanks to the people who favorited and followed this story. It really encourages me whenever I see that one more person has favorited/followed/reviewed this story.**


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